Free Republic

The South China Sea has once again become a focal point of international attention following sudden clashes between coast guard vessels of the Philippines and China. As tensions rise, the involvement of global powers like the US and Japan adds further complexity to the situation, potentially pushing more nations to align against Beijing. Amid these escalating tensions, it becomes imperative for China to reconsider its assertive stance and respect the existing global order to avoid further international backlash The South China Sea (SCS) has once again come into focus following sudden skirmishes between the coast guard vessels of the Philippines...

The USS John S. McCain "broke into China's Xisha territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government," Beijing's military said in a statement. Also, Taiwan sent fighter jets, broadcast radio warnings, deployed air defense missile systems to track PLAAF planes after breach of Taiwan's ADIZ (air defense identification zone). There is something unfolding which has “all the hallmarks of the world’s next major military drama.” “Well what a week it's been for this standoff between China and Taiwan, which we cannot ignore, and neither can the United States,” Mr Smith said. read more...

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, before being chased off by Taiwanese patrol planes, according to the Air Force Command Headquarters.

ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United States would consider any Chinese establishment of an air defense zone over the South China Sea to be a "provocative and destabilizing act". U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea in 2013. "We would consider an ADIZ...over portions of the South China Sea as...

A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials.The guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.“On December 5th, while lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering...

Korea Declares New Air Defense Zone The government on Sunday announced a new air defense identification zone with the same boundaries as Korea's Flight Information Region and overlapping with both the Chinese and Japanese zones. The new zone stretches 236 km south of the submerged reef of Ieo, which also lies in the Japanese and Chinese zones, and includes Marado and Hongdo, an inhabited island that is also part of Japan's zone. The eastern and western boundaries remain the same as before. The old zone had been in place since it was delineated by the U.S. Air Force in March...

China’s military forces are showing no signs of increased alert status or readiness for conflict despite high tensions with Japan over Beijing’s air defense zone overlapping U.S. and Japanese air defense coverage of the disputed Senkaku islands. A senior defense official said U.S. military monitors observed “no unusual military movements” by the Chinese military since the Nov. 23 declaration of the air defense identification zone, which the Pentagon has called “destabilizing.” Imposition of the new air defense zone has sharply increased tensions in East Asia. China has scrambled jets to patrol airspace that includes the Senkakus, which China is claiming....

Vice-President Joe Biden's strong reaffirmation of the U.S.-Japan alliance is better news following bad. The bad news is what made the American reaffirmation necessary: China's latest act of "barbed wire diplomacy," the extension of its Air Defense Identification Zone to include a disputed chain of Japanese-administered islets northwest of Okinawa. The Japanese call the disputed islets the Senkakus. The Chinese call them the Diaoyu. Two names for a territory may simply be colloquial artifacts. When the history is ugly, however, one man's idiom is another man's curse. "Double names" are often the cartographer's mark of lingering animosity between neighboring states....

National Security: As the media praised the president for sending two B-52s through disputed air space claimed by China, the administration instructed U.S. airlines to get approval as demanded from the Chinese government. After China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea encompassing the Japanese Senkaku Islands, two U.S. B-52s flew through the claimed air space without informing Beijing. It was an appropriate response. Not so appropriate, however, was the Obama administration's instructions to U.S. carriers that they accede to China's demands for prior notification. China announced last week that all aircraft entering the zone...

China says it scrambled fighter jets to monitor US and Japanese planes as they flew in its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea on Friday. The zone covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. China said last week that all aircraft crossing through the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves or face "defensive emergency measures". The US, Japan and South Korea say they have since defied the ruling and flown military aircraft in the area.

(Reuters) - China scrambled jets on Friday in response to two U.S. spy planes and 10 Japanese aircraft, including F-15 fighters, entering its new air defense zone over the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea. The jets were scrambled for effective monitoring, Xinhua cited air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying. The report gave no further details. Japan and South Korea flew military aircraft through the zone, which includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China,...

Complete Headline: Japan Dispatches F-15s, E-767s And P-3 Into China's Air Defense Zone, China Scrambles Su-30 In Response China's escalation and re-escalation described in detail yesterday, has just been met with a corresponding re-re-escalation by Japan. China's Ministry of Defense reports that the nation identified Japanese military planes that entered into Chinese air defense identification zone today. 7 batches of 10 Japanese planes consisting of E-767, P-3 and F-15 entered into the zone China has also identified 2 batches of 2 U.S. surveillance planes consisting of P-3 and EP-3, without specifying whether the planes entered into the zone China scrambled...

Chinese state media say China has sent two fighter planes to investigate flights by a dozen U.S. and Japanese planes in its newly established maritime air defence zone over the East China Sea. It is thought the incident is separate to China's announcement that it would carry out regular patrols in its air zone.

<p>WASHINGTON—A pair of American B-52 bombers flew over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, U.S. officials said Tuesday, in a direct challenge to China and its establishment of an expanded air-defense zone.</p> <p>The planes flew out of Guam and entered the new Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone at about 7 p.m. Washington time Monday, according to a U.S. official.</p>

The zone includes a groups of islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku by Japan Continue reading the main story Related Stories Tensions rise across region Watch Viewpoints: China air zone tensions Why China air zone raises risk China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea, state media reports. The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face "defensive emergency measures". But Japan, South Korea and the...

The new U.S. ambassador to Japan has weighed in on escalating tensions between China and Japan over the East China Sea. On Wednesday, Caroline Kennedy criticized China's recent move to create its own Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which requires that all aircraft notify Chinese authorities before entering the airspace. "Unilateral actions like those taken by China with their announcement of an East China Sea Air-to-Sea Identification Zone undermines security and constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea. This only serves to increase tension in the region," the ambassador said. The new ADIZ includes...

Japan has gone ahead and decided that airspace above Yonaguni island, the westernmost island in all of Japan, is indeed entirely Japan’s responsibility. That may sound like a no-brainer, but during the 1950s, the United States controlled Yonguni and the rest of the Ryukyu islands and decided to split control of the airspace with Taiwan. Taiwan is not happy. On June 26, Japan unilaterally extended the ADIZ [Air Defense Identification Zone--JSW] line westwards by 22 kilometers. As a result, Taiwanese and Japanese AIDZs now overlap. That Tokyo seems willing to put up with the prospect of doing damage to Taiwan-Japan...

Aero-Views: Shame On All Of You Fri, 13 May '05 No Heroes In ADIZ Incursion By ANN Senior Correspondent Kevin R.C. "Hognose" O'Brien I wasn't flying Wednesday when the city of Washington went into a massive, hyperventilating panic over a light plane in the ADIZ; I was driving the highways, and I got to hear the blow-by-blow on the radio and in periodic phone calls with ANN's Pete Combs. Good grief, what a shameful episode. There's enough shame to go around. Indeed, there are no heroes in this tawdry tale of ADIZ incursion, but there's a whole gaggle of goats:...

FAA Staff Approve Unauthorized Flights To DC-3... Managers of two of three Washington-area airports closed to transient traffic since 9/11 say flight service staff and even air traffic controllers continue to steer unauthorized flights in their direction, causing security alerts and landing pilots in hot water. The DC-3 airports -- College Park, Hyde Field and Potomac Airfield-- are within the 15-nm Flight Restriction Zone around Washington and are closed to all aircraft except those based at any of the three and flown by a specially screened pilot. Yet, incredibly, FAA staff continue to approve flight plans to two facilities have...